


Help Take These Shadows Off Me

by sadlatimer



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: BASICALLY ALS IS MY FAVOURITE MOVIE SO I HAD TO WRITE A FIC OKAY, F/F, Human AU, I guess a general warning that they'll be mentions of death, Slow(ish) Burn, adult life skills au, depends how impatient I get lmao, he's dead pre fic but it'll be mentioned later, if you've seen it you know its gonna be sad, single mum!yaz, the major character death is ten, thirteen and ten are twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24273784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadlatimer/pseuds/sadlatimer
Summary: It's coming up to the one year anniversary of her twins death. A year of living in the blue shed at the bottom of the garden, a year of hiding away from everything through stories of adventures in time and space.That is until she meets a 7 year old fancy-dress fanatic and his police officer mum.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan
Comments: 30
Kudos: 61





	1. Peanut Butter and Marmite

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> This is my first fic so expect the worst and hopefully you won't be too disappointed, hah. I feel like it was only right that my first fic was an ALS au seeing as its one of my favourite movies (strongly urge that you check it out if you haven't seen it). 
> 
> Anyways, I feel this note should be more interesting so I dedicate this to my 6x great-nan because I'm sure she'd love it.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [shout out to augustines for the title and to those whole endured my yelling while I was writing]

362\. 

362 days. 

If you wanted to get precise: 362 days, 5 hours, 14 minutes and 42 seconds. 

Not that she would admit she’s been counting. 

Never. 

She has been though. Despite the pain it causes. The heaviness in her chest. At one point almost convincing herself that she actually has two hearts because there's no way this is what only one feels like when it’s broken. And all it took was one phone call. One phone call telling her that 28 years had been wiped away in 10 seconds. Months of being told _“wrong place at the wrong time”, “he was a hero”_ and all that bollocks, and now she can’t even bring herself to say his name. To talk about him. It’s almost become a rule to never bring him up. She could never forget though; she sees him everwhere. In the souvenirs from his life that are dotted around the hut she calls home, in that stupid fucking sign that sits above the door of said hut, in their favourite movies. His old red converse that still sit by the front door. 

She could _never_ forget. 

The morning sun peeks through the gap in the curtains, shining over the duvet and letting her know another day is here and another night of broken sleep was over. She lays there staring at the faded drawing of a smiley face on her thumb, still just about clinging on despite the shower that was had last night, laughter echoing through her mind from memories that the simple doodle brings back. Happy days that feel so long ago and the possibility of them coming back seeming so far away. As she blinks the reruns stop. Her eyes start to drift down to the writing tattooed across her wrist; the ink not quite as bold as it was when she got it all those years ago, but the memories are still as clear as the days they were made. 

The other hand comes up to graze over it. “Mornin’” She utters just as the walkie talkie on the bedside table starts to crackle. 

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” A voice... sang? Breaking through the little bubble universe that she’d created. Someone’s in a good mood again. Another crackle. “It’s 6:25am, the sun is out and breakfast is on the table. Did you want a lift to work? I’m dropping Ryan off so I’m leaving in 30 minutes if you do” 

She mumbles her response, hoping her friend would somehow be able to hear. Now would be a great time to gain some magic powers. 

“Cal?” 

A pause. 

“Callie?” 

The voice now sounding slightly more concerned. 

Blindly reaching out for the offending object, she massively over estimates the distance and knocks said object, along with her glasses, on the floor. 

“Callie!” 

She rushes to grab the walkie talkie off the floor, almost falling out of bed in the process. Hand braced on the table beside her, the only thing that stopped her faceplanting the floor, Callie moves to sit on the edge of the bed with the battered device now in hand.

She sighs. 

“I’m awake, I’m awake.” Scrunching her face as she assesses any damage done to her glasses, deeming them in the same slightly neglected state that they were in already, before sliding them onto her face. “Don’t worry about the lift, the walk will do me good” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Martha-" 

“We have this conversation every day" Martha says in her best attempt at a northern accent before Callie has a chance to say the words herself. “I know, but it’s my last morning before I move out...” trailing the word out, hoping to change her friends mind. 

Callie sighs. “Ok.” 

“Wait, what?” 

“I’ll take the lift.” A small smile appearing on her face as she hears a happy squeal come through the scratched speaker. 

“You will? Great! So, leaving in... 25 minutes?” 

“25 minutes. I’ll be out in a sec” 

Callie rubs her hands over her face, questioning whether accepting the offer was a good idea, but Martha's leaving tomorrow to move in with Mickey and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t going to miss her. Even the annoying “good mornings”. So, one lift wouldn’t hurt. 

She pushes herself off the bed making her way across the wooden floor to the draws of clothes that are precariously stacked on top of each other rather than being in an actual unit. She grabs the ripped jeans off the worn-out desk chair on her way over, deciding against the navy shirt with the rainbow stripe across the front - that one was definitely going in the laundry pile. Instead she picks up a charcoal coloured t-shirt, looking at the faded detail on the front causing memories to flow through her head. 

_This must have been-_

She stops herself mid thought. Best not to go there. 

She pulls the shirt, which is definitely a couple sizes too big, over her head, slips on her boot and quickly glances in the mirror before running her hands through her messy blonde hair and tucking it behind her ears, making sure to grab a hair tie off the pile on the desk. Grabbing her bag, she makes her way out the creaky blue door, turning around to secure the padlock before heading across the garden towards the patio doors. 

\-------- 

Inside she finds a familiar sight. Ryan in his garage overalls, phone in one hand, spoon in the other and _3, 2, 1..._

“Ah, shit!” 

Cereal down his front. 

“Again, Ryan?” Martha laughs from her seat opposite him, coffee in hand. “Y’know the girls can wait, right?” 

“That’s assuming he’s got girls wanting to talk to him, which is... bold, Martha.” Callie cuts in, causing the dark haired woman in front of her to turn around in her seat as Ryan gets up to clean himself off. Martha nudges the other mug of coffee towards her in a silent offering and she picks it up, raising a brow at her friend as she takes a sip. After years of being lectured on what too much sugar can do to your body and being told _“one day all your teeth are gonna fall out and I'll only be there to say I told you so.”_ She’d actually put the sugar in. 

Pulling the chair out, Callie puts her mug down and grabs some toast from the plate in the middle of the table before she takes her seat. She spreads her chosen condiments on, her favourite combination despite the many comments and looks she’s received because of it. As she takes her first bite she feels eyes on her, she raises her gaze to see Ryan watching her from where he’s standing by the sink, cloth in hand and the disgusted look on his face that she’s very much use to seeing. 

“Mate, it’s just wrong.” 

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it” She mumbles around a bite. 

“Peanut butter and Marmite? Nah, I'll pass. Oh, by the way, Freddie says that you can go pick your car up today” 

Mouth full, she responds with a thumbs up. 

“He also says that you should really look into getting a new one. This is the 3rd time in 4 months, Cal. And that’s not counting the month it’s been in the garage this time.” Ryan continues. 

“And she’s still going so why get rid?” Shrugging as she takes another bite. “I’ll come by after work” 

The car being something else that has too many memories attached to it. Callie knows she really should look into getting a new one but, like the many other things on the list of “Things Callie Should Have Done By Now”, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She needed a push. The right thing to come along and make her step into the future instead of staying the shadows of the past.

She finishes the second slice and checks the clock on the wall opposite noting that she has 5 minutes before they need to leave. She gets up, puts her plate and mug in the sink and heads towards the bathroom. 

Closing the door behind her after she enters, she closes her eyes and lets out a shaky breath as she leans against it. As she stands there, she can hear the mumble of voice through the door. Taking another breath, she pushes off and heads over to the sink, taking her glasses off and putting them on the side before splashing her face with water. After drying it with her towel Callie puts her contacts in and brushes her teeth. Once she's finished, she stands there for a few seconds, just looking at herself in the mirror. The scar that runs through her right eyebrow from when she fell out the tree... for the 5th time. The deep frown line between her brows, definitely deeper than it was this time last year. The laughter lines around her eyes and mouth, not as prominent as they use to be - probably from the lack of genuine laughter recently. The slight bump in her nose that you can only see from a certain angle, she huffs a small laugh as she recalls the time it got broken when Ryan’s fist met her face that time they spontaneously went to a self-defence class. She runs her hands through her hair before tying half of it up in a pony tail and then making her way back towards the door. Taking another breath as she grabs the handle. 

She comes back into the brightly lit room and the conversation Martha and Ryan were having abruptly stops. They’d been talking about her... again. No surprise there. She should feel flattered that she's apparently such an exciting topic of conversation, but she knows the reason is far from positive. 

“Ready?” Callie asks, ignoring the gossiping session that was probably going on only seconds ago. She receives a murmured “yeah” from both of them, accompanied by apologetic smiles. “Get a shift on then.” She picks up her bag and heads towards the door, grabbing her grey coat off the hook as she leaves the house. 

\-------- 

Ryan’s work only being a 2 minute drive away meant that Callie was left alone in the car with Martha for the longer part of the journey to the adventure trail. The place she was destined to spend the next 7 hours at, not that she minded though, it had become a welcomed distraction. She sat there, her leg bouncing, engrossing herself in the patterns the clouds were making. 

_Is that a snow globe... with skyscrapers in?_

She waits for the conversation she’s sure will inevitably come. But, to her surprise, Martha just turns up the radio, blasting out yet another artist Callie hasn't heard of. She puts the metaphorical piece of paper with her planned out answers in a draw that she’d come back to later if need be. 

Soon they were turning down the road which lead them to Callie’s destination. The car had suddenly gotten quieter and Callie realises that she’d got so caught up in the clouds that she hadn’t noticed that the music was no longer blearing and was now only softly playing in the background of the scene she found herself in. 

She braces herself. 

“So, you got any exciting trails planned today?” Martha enquires, knowing that asking about work was the best thing she could do right now. Callie loves her job. It's her escape. She goes to far off lands and fight creatures from other planets... Ok, not really. But as she takes the group of kids around the trails, the stories she would come up with. It’s like her brain is one of those claw machines you find in arcades, but instead of soft toys it’s full of thousands of years' worth of memories, and you're guaranteed new adventure every time. 

“Donna says we’ve got a couple of new kids joining us today, which is always exciting. They never know what to expect when we set off, have usually convinced themselves already that’s it gonna be dead borin’ and of course I prove ‘em wrong. Oh! You should come along one day. You could be my companion!” The old Callie starting to peek through like it usually does when this topic comes about. 

Martha laughs. “Companion?” 

“Yeah, Callie Smith and Dr Martha Jones” 

She waves her hands like there’s a banner in front of her with their names on. 

"Smith and Jones! We could, I dunno, fight space rhinos or... or statues that you have to keep lookin’ at otherwise they get you and throw you into some random point in time. Maybe even a creature that’s the product of a human experiment gone wrong.” Callie’s hands fly as she talks, the excitement in her voice grows with every being that her mind invents. “I’m sure Donna would be fine with it. Ah, it would be ace, Martha!” 

“How do you think of these things?” Martha wonders out loud. “Well, let me know what she says and maybe if I have an hour or two free in between unpacking boxes I’ll pop down” 

Callie brings two fingers to her forehead in a mock salute before grabbing her bag and opening the car door. She doesn’t notice the flash of sadness that passes over Martha’s face. 

_God, you look so much like him when you do that_

“Thanks for the lift, by the way. Hope the hospital isn’t too hectic today.” She says as she exits the car. 

“Well, I might see you there later if you’re up to your usual antics” 

“Hey! I’ll have you know I am the most graceful person you will ever meet” Callie counters as she steps backwards to close the car door, not noticing the rock sticking out of the road and stumbling to keep her balance. 

“Gracefully clumsy maybe.” Martha murmurs just loud enough for Callie to hear. She looks back out the now closed door to see a human equivalent of a puppy dog staring back at her. Martha laughs at her friend's adorable expression. “Do you know much you look like-” 

“Right, see ya!” Callie interrupts before the sentence could be finished, deciding she knew how it was going to end and she didn’t want to hear it. 

Martha sighs. “-a puppy. I was gonna say puppy.” 

\-------- 

As Callie got closer to the small brick building among the trees, she noticed a small figure standing there. The closer she got the more confused she became. 

_Spider-Man?_

Noticing the costume the figure, who she now realised was a child, was donning. 

_What are they doing here alone? Where's Donna?_

Callie started to panic a little at the thought of being stuck alone with the clearly vicious beast, a beast that was actually a, maybe, 7 year old child dressed as Spider-Man. How terrifying. She started to scan the area when the person she was looking for made her appearance from the office building. 

“Thank the Gods” Callie mutters. 

She raised her arm to look at the watch on her wrist, the faded stars and planets design only just visible. Martha had offered to get her a new watch for her birthday last year _“You’ve had that one since you were 12, Cal. You're gonna be 29!”_ But, like everything else she owned. Memories. 

It was 7:16, she was early. _Very_ early. 

“Callie!” 

The voice grabs her attention away from the watch straight to Donna’s ever enthusiastic face looking right at her. 

“I was hoping one of you lot would turn up early, and just my luck that it’s my favourite.” 

_Please don’t dump the kid with me. Please don’t dump the kid with me._

Hoping the small fake smile she adopts hides her thoughts. 

“This one's mum is a Police Officer so he had to be dropped off early. You couldn’t keep an eye on him, could you?” Donna asks. “I’ve just gotta finish writing out the day plan on the board” 

_Shit._

Smile still in place. “Sure. He can help me get set up” 

“Oh, that’s brilliant, I'll be in the office if you need me.” 

And with that Donna was gone, rushing off to complete her task before the small herd of children arrived. 

Callie lets the fake smile drop as she turns to face the tiny being she's just been lumbered with. Greeted by a hand sticking out and a big grin, the mask now off his head and in his other hand, she raises her brow in suspicion. 

_What if he bites me? I don’t wanna be bitten... again._

Her wariness might have come across as odd, considering she works with kids, but she wasn’t use to being left one-on-one with them. She always had her stories as a barrier or one of her colleagues around. Right now, she had no stories and no-one was turning up for at least another half an hour. After a couple of seconds Callie decides to risk the hand that she’s being offered, half the size of hers and covered in red and black fabric. 

“Ezra.” The boy introduces himself, grin still firmly in place despite the lack of front teeth. 

“Callie.”


	2. Rhino vs Space Rhino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is longer than the first... I have no idea yet how long this fic will actually be or how often updates will be but anyways, enjoy!

_With hands covering her eyes, Callie finds herself, she hopes, in the back garden of the small house she shares with her brother and their..._ housemates? Friends? It’s been 2 years, they’re definitely friends now, right? _She feels breath against the back of her neck as an excited giggle rings in her ears. She’d been asked by her brother to accompany him outside as he had a surprise for her, something he’d been working on when they weren’t studying for their degrees, the whole project starting because of the fact they didn’t have a decent study area in the three-bed house. With Ryan studying for his NVQ and the others studying medicine you could say it gets a little crowded, sometimes it is helpful, but sometimes you just need your own space._

_And so, “Project TARDIS” was born._

_A project that was set out to benefit them all but mainly for Callie, her inability to stop herself from getting distracted made studying hard and so a study area specifically designed just for studying would be perfect. It would also be the perfect space to use on the days where you just wanted be alone, the days where the world is too much and you just need to shut yourself away to deal with it._

_A safe space._

_The name had been all Johnny’s idea. TARDIS. Standing for “Time Alone Revising Degree In Shed”. He thought it was a good name, inventive, whereas Ryan and Martha had laughed at how shit it was, telling him “the shed better turn out better than the name”. And it had, the shed looked amazing, and Johnny was pretty damn proud of it._

_“Johnny, I swear to god if you’re playing a prank on me again, I will not hesitate to throw you in the river.”_

_He laughs at her threat, knowing full well she would follow through with it. Getting her own back was something Callie was very good at._

_“It’s not a prank, Cal. Not this time. Promise”_

_“Are we there? Can I look?” Callie starting to bounce on her feet, itching to see what he had been up to._

_“Ok, Ok.” He takes his hands away from her eyes. “Whatch’a think?”_

_Standing in front of her, at the bottom of their garden, was the old shed, except it had been painted the most beautiful shade of blue that Callie had ever seen. The window no longer had a crack in it and the door was actually hanging straight, no longer clinging on by one hinge. As she took a step forward she noticed more; an old “pull to open” sign leaning against the panelling just under the window and a brand new silver handle on the door which she was eager to take a hold of so she could see what was hiding behind it._

_“Can I go inside?”_

_Johnny laughs as he leans past her to unlock the padlock and hold the door open._

_“There you go.”_

_Callie steps over the threshold and her jaw drops at what she finds. The room had been completely transformed. No longer cluttered up with all the stuff they had brought with them when they moved in just over 2 years ago. There’s no way this could be the same shed. To her left is a small purple sofa and a decent sized hexagonal coffee table and to her right is a desk, the perfect size for when she’s researching and making notes, and an insanely comfy looking desk chair. A couple of large book shelves sat at the back of the room some partly full already, with the remaining books piled up on the floor among, what Callie assumes, is the last few things Johnny wanted her help with. It's perfect._

_“So, I thought this would be a great space to just, y’know, comfortably revise so you don’t kill your back sitting at the computer all the time.” Johnny explains, squeezing past her and plonking himself down on the sofa and resting his converse covered feet on the table. “Or for coffee breaks, lunch breaks, snack breaks, any kind of break really. And over here!” He jumps up and makes his way over to the desk area, Callie watching him in awe the entire time he talks. “Here is where you can do all your research, online revision, note making” he leans in and whispers as he passes her, despite them being the only ones in there “Game playing.” Landing in the desk chair spinning slightly. “Whatever tickles your pickle. Oh, no, never saying that again... so” He gets up and approaches her, smirk on his face and the biggest smile in his eyes. “what d’ya think?”_

_Callie can’t stop the grin that takes over her face as she goes on her tip toes and flings her arms around Johnny’s shoulders, dragging him down slightly into a hug._

_“I really like it” She mumbles into his shoulder. “I love it. Thank you”_

_He wraps his arms around her waist and lifts her a couples of inches off the ground before they release each other._

_“Anything for my little sister.”_

_“3 minutes, John. You’re 3 minutes older”_

_“And you know I take those 3 minutes very seriously.”_

_Callie rolls her eyes as she laughs, strolling over towards the box waiting to be sorted._

_“How the fuck did you make it look so big in here? It looks so small on the outside and when you walk in... “_

_“Well, that would be revealing my secrets, maybe I've worked out a way to engineer dimensions, maybe I’m a wizard...”_

_Callie shakes her head as she starts to dive into the box of random objects that they’d acquired over the years. Some actually held some value, some neither of them knew how they came to own and some was just unless shit they hadn’t thrown away yet._

_“What are these?” She asks, holding up some round things that she’d found hidden away at the bottom, they look like they might belong on a wall._

_“I have no idea.”_

\-------- 

Callie and her newly appointed sidekick had spent the last hour and a bit sorting out some of the things they would needing for the day and it was safe to say that the extra pair of hands had come in useful. The high-vis jackets now colour split, both groups having a different one for when they’re out in the woods so any wonderers can easily be spotted. The “murder mystery” had been set up, the clues had been hidden by Callie while Ezra was busy getting the jackets off Donna in the office. Ezra playing the part of the victim and just about managing to stay still for the 30 seconds it took to have his chalk outline done. Her colleagues had arrived about half an hour ago and so they were dealing with the few kids who came earlier than the others for breakfast, they usually had a handful of them each week, some parents didn’t always have the time to provide it at home before they dropped them off on their way to work. Callie was now sorting out the last bit for the final activity of the day, her new helper still by her side. 

“What are you doing?” 

She looks up from her crouched position on the grass at the 4 foot Spider-Man perched on the stack of mats next to her, suspicious of how quiet he had become over the last few minutes. He hadn’t stopped talking until now. 

“On the lookout for Rhino” Ezra explains, as if what he was doing was perfectly obvious, “He’s escaped.” 

“A rhino escaped? I don’t think we have any rhinos around here, mate” 

“Nooo, not _a_ rhino. Rhino. Y’know, from Spider-Man! He’s massive, like 8 feet tall and wears metal armour.” 

“I have no idea what you're on about” 

From the offended look on Ezra’s face she has a feeling she was about to regret saying that. 

“Have you never seen Spider-Man?” Absolutely baffled at the idea that someone hasn’t watched his favourite web-swinging hero. 

“I have-” 

“Hey, little man, how ya doing?” A familiar American accent causes them both to turn around and she has never been more grateful to see that damn smirk and that coat that Callie swears she will steal one day. 

_Why does he even have a coat from WWII?_

By the squeal that comes from beside her, she’s not the only one who recognises the addition to the conversation. 

“Uncle Jack!” 

“That’s right!” Then moving his focus to Callie, “Hiya, Cal.” Questioning eyes look back at him. “Oh, his mums recently transferred to the station. Known them a couple of years though ‘cause of my old placement. You’d like her.” He winks. 

Callie rolls her eyes and sighs. Jack’s been trying to set her up with someone for ages, it feels like everytime she sees him he’s found a new person that would be _“perfect for you"_ and is _“just your type”_. She appreciates it, she knows he’s just looking out for her because he’s worried. It’s like he’s taken over the role of big brother since there was now a place going. I mean, who better to fill it than his best friend. But she's not sure she’s ready. The fear of finding someone, them becoming just as important as Johnny was only to lose them, is too strong. Not to mention the fact her track record for romantic relationships wasn’t the greatest. 

“Anyways,” Jack says, holding up a plastic Tupperware. “Someone left his lunch at home so guess who has the privilege of delivering it” he passes the box to Callie before picking up the pint sized hero, spinning him round and giving him a hug before placing him down, on the grass this time. 

“Hey, Jacky-Boy!” 

Their attention being drawn over to the office building where they see, with the cheekiest smile on her face, microphone in hand and dressed in a colourful striped t-shirt and black dungarees, none other than Bill Potts. Who else would it be? That loud speaker was basically her best friend, Donna has threatened to have her banned from using it countless times, but it still didn’t stop her. 

“Hey, Bill. In your favourite place I see” 

“You know it. Callie get your arse over here, we’re ready” 

“Bill! I swear to god, I will ban you from using that bloody microphone” Donna could be heard from inside the office which was soon filled with laughter after it could only be assumed Bill gave her excuse once she went back in. Donna wasn’t strict at all, the fact Bill has yet to be banned from the microphone despite the threats was enough evidence. Apart from the fact she introduces herself as the manager when new people arrive, you wouldn’t think she was, they were all very much on the same level there and you could see it from the moment you stepped in. 

They were just like one big family. 

Jack laughs at the commotion. “I guess that’s my cue to leave” 

\--------- 

Considering it was coming up to mid October, the weather was being kind to them. There was a chill in the air when the wind blew which meant you definitely needed an extra layer, but it was still perfect weather to be out and about in. 

Especially when it came to wood trails. 

Donna has split the kids, 8 in each group and 2 leaders to supervise them. Clara was paired with Amy, Rose with Donna and Callie was with Bill, and if she was honest, she would choose Bill everytime if she could. 

She first met her enthusiastic best friend 5 years ago when she started dating Martha. They had quickly bonded over their love for sci-fi and would often have long, in-depth, discussions about whether aliens existed and the possibility of other worlds being out there. So, she was thankful that when Bill and Martha split up it was on mutual terms, it took a while, but they eventually went back to having their weekly sci-fi movie nights. Bill providing the food, Callie and Johnny the movie from their extensive collection while Martha and Ryan would just be there to eat the food and pretend to be invested in whatever they eventually put on. 

Callie was also appreciative of the fact that Bill had never brought up Johnny’s death. 

Everyone would always tell her that talking helped, they would ask her questions and be extra cautious around her, like she would explode if they said the wrong thing, which in their defence had happened a few times. Bill just acted normal, like nothing had changed. The only exchange that had ever happened between them to do with the topic was about 2 weeks after the incident. Bill walked in the house, greeted everyone as normal, except this time she hugged Callie. 

Like, proper hugged her. 

Not that this was a surprise, Bill was a hugger, but you could see and Callie could feel, that this was different. As she hugged her, she said, only loud enough for Callie to hear, “I’m here, when and _IF_ you wanna talk. Day or night, time isn’t a worry” and that was it. She patted her back and gave her a smile and that was the only time it has ever been mentioned between them. 

Bill lost both her parents when she was young and had been in and out of foster care until she was 18 and aged out the system, just like Callie and Johnny had. She had been the first person the twins had properly opened up to and it was all because she knew, she knew what not to ask, what it was like to lose those who you think will be there for many years to come, what such uncertain times felt like. 

They felt safe around her. 

So, when Callie saw Bill walking over to her, passing out the high-vis on her way, she breathed a sigh of relief. Last week she’d been paired with Rose and while she can be a right laugh and was a close friend due to the fact she was dating Johnny, it's that factor that made her hard to be around at times. It’s inevitable that he’ll come up in conversation, especially as it’s coming up to the year anniversary. 

“Ready?” Bill asks, receiving a nod in response from Callie, before shifting her focus to Ezra who has been stuck by Callie’s side since the groups were announced. He had become quiet since the other kids had turned up and since Callie didn’t really know him yet, she didn’t know whether this was normal or not, but seeing how chatty he’d been with her and when Jack had turned up, she could only assume it was just the “new kid nerves”. Something she definitely understood as she had been in that position a fair few times during her school career. She made a mental note to keep an eye on him throughout the day, just to be sure. 

“Who do we have here?” 

Bill had that vibe about her, the kind that makes you instantly more relaxed and Callie felt the nerves leave Ezra body before he stepped slightly out of her space and introduced himself. 

“I’m Ezra” 

“Nice to meet ya, Spider-Ezra. I’m Bill” She says as she hands the last jacket over to him, making her voice slightly softer as she continues. “You’re gonna have a great time, trust me. You need anything, just ask me or Cal, ok?” 

“Ok” 

And with that Bill calls the other kids to her attention as she tells them, the admittedly very small, set of rules. The only one really worth taking note of being “stay where we can see you”. 

Callie gently nudges Ezra’s arm to grab his attention. “You’ll be fine” She reassures him with a small smile and a wink before she heads off to the front of the group, ready to begin todays trail. 

In the short couple of hours that she’d known the young dark haired boy she found herself feeling slightly attached to him. She saw herself in his enthusiasm, the way he gushed about the things he loved, the amount of emotion he felt over trivial things like comic book heroes, the way he treated the world like it was one big story. She saw the parts of herself that she hadn’t seen in almost a year. And treating the world like it was one big story? Well, that had become her biggest coping mechanism. 

“Are we ready?” Callie asks the small crowd in front of her, she receives a chorus of confirmations in response, so she continues. 

“And are you excited? ‘Cause I'm really excited.” She receives another yell of enthusiasm back and so she heads through the archway made by the trees to being the trail. 

This is Callie in her element, for the hour she does this trail for, it’s like none of the things that trouble her exists. She gets so into the story that it’s like she’s actually there. It’s moments like this where “the old Callie” makes her comeback and Bill absolutely loves that. She misses her best friend, but is grateful that she is one of few who get to witness her come back, even if it is just for that short time. 

The wooded area is pretty expanse, they’re lucky to have such a massive area to themselves. It had never really been used, except for when they did orienteering maybe once a month, it was when Callie arrived almost 6 months ago and she’d asked if she could set up a trail and take the kids around it that it became a regular occurrence. Donna had gone with her that first time, Callie being new she needed the supervision on the first few activities she did alone before she was paired with someone else. To say Donna had been impressed was an understatement. She couldn’t believe how well she kept them all entertained, how imaginative she was. 

“I wonder where the portal has brought us to this time...” Callie holds her finger up for a few seconds and then sticks it in her mouth. As a way to bring the kids into the story she came up with the idea of using the archway as if it was a portal, taking them to anywhere in time and space when they stepped through it. 

“I’m getting... early 23rd- no, 24th century. A good century, bit boring in the middle though.” 

As they walked further in she gave them a few “facts” about the 24th century. The kids hung on to every word she said, even Bill, she would never tire of Callies stories, no matter how outrageous they became. But that was what made them so fun, so attention grabbing, they were mad but amazing. 

“People have regular holidays to other planets now,” Callie begins. “Space travel has advanced so much that instead of the 110 days it took in 1962, it now takes just a week to get to Venus. It’s a beautiful planet, definitely 5 star trip adviser rating, maybe 4.5 actually, it’s a bit too hot.” She picks up a branch as she walks, turning right to lead them towards the stream that runs through the middle of the woods. “You’ve gotta wear one of those special space suits that stops all the heat getting in. You can also talk to animals now, a scientist worked out a translator and so now everyone has a chip in their brain that automatically translates, its brilliant. Met a really nice goat when I was last here.” 

When they reach the stream Callie stops at the bridge, she pokes the ground with the branch before dropping it and crouching down to pick up some of the dirt, holding it up to her nose and looking around as if she’s tracking something. 

“Cal, please don’t tell me you’re gonna eat that. Did you not learn from last time?” 

A groan of disgust and a few laughs come from the small crowd that has gathered around her. She’s never going to live that down. She did it once and she regretted it so much, more for the fact that Bill’s never let her forget it. 

“I’m not gonna- Ezra, come ‘ere a sec.” 

Ezra wary approaches her, keeping an eye on the hand with the dirt in as he crouches down. He breathes as sigh of relief when Callie drops the dirt and wipes her hand on her jeans before turning to him and she pointing to the other side of the stream. 

“I think, from the scent I picked up in the dirt, Rhino went that way. There’s a second scent though...” 

“Probably dog shit” Bill mumbles from behind her. 

“Whatever it is, I think they went that way too. Across the stream. It appears Rhino is being followed by someone or something.” 

“Who’s Rhino?” one of the members of the group behind them asks. 

She turns to face Ezra and the excitement in his eyes is enough to say she did the right thing. Callie wanted to help him feel included and she’d already gathered that he had a love for the make-believe so this was a perfect way to, hopefully, help him feel less anxious. She nods at him to answer. 

“He’s a bad guy. He’s, like, _really_ tall and wear massive metal armour! He fights Spider-Man, but of course Spidey wins” 

“Good thing we’ve got you then, mate” Bill remarks, pointing to the costume he’s wearing. 

“Can I?” Ezra grins, looking back at Callie for permission to lead the group across the bridge so they can carry on their adventure. 

“Go ahead. C’mon, gang, we’ve got a rhino to catch.” 

Ezra crosses the bridge first, the others following behind him, he recognises that this was a place where Callie had placed something so he starts looking around until something on the ground catches his eye. 

“Hey, look, there’s a boot print!” 

The other kids run over to investigate it with him, each trying to have a good look at the print. 

“Whoa! They’ve got big feet” 

“Is it Rhino’s?” 

“Do you think that’s mean they’re close?” 

The comments and speculations fly out their mouths as Bill comes in to have a good look too. 

“What’ya think, Cal? That’s a heavy print.” 

“Judoon.” 

“J-Juwhat?” 

“Judoon.” 

“I’m not even gonna ask where that one came from” Bill utters as she gets up to hear what else Callie has to say about these creatures. 

“Look what I found!” A blonde haired girl calls out, pointing to a gouge in the tree and a small piece of metal that sat below it. 

The mark had already been there, it had always been there, something that must have happened before the trail was built, but Callie had purposely placed the print and the piece of metal near it to help build the scene. It worked perfectly for the story she had concocted in her head as they were setting up earlier. 

“Is that Rhinos?” 

“What are we gonna do?” One of the other kids asks. 

“Judoon are basically outer space police. Funnily they also look like rhinos... It seems we might have a case of Rhino vs space rhino going on here” Callie explains. “They must be out to arrest him. We’ve got to be careful; they can be nasty.” 

A couple of the boys are standing on the roots of a tree next the where the print is, almost like they’re on look out, while the others gather around. 

“Right, here’s the plan. I’m gonna split you into two teams, one will come up with a way to get rid of the Judoon and the other a way to stop Rhino. 10 minutes, then we’ll regroup and save the world. Sound good?” 

She receives a cheer in response, ideas already starting to be shared before she splits them up. When the teams are made, her and Bill supervise a team each, they plan out what they’re going to do before the world is put in unimaginable danger. 

\-------- 

The groups switched over so they had each done two activities by the time lunch came around. They spent the break together in the conservatory, the half brick half glass walls being perfect for days, like today, where it was a bit too cold to be sitting outside to eat. It was the same room a few of them had had their breakfast in that morning, except Bill and Rose, who were incharge of the kitchen, had lunch off as the kids would bring in their own food. They then moved onto the final activity, the murder mystery that Callie and Ezra had set up that morning, which they all did together, before their parents or guardians came to pick them up. The more the day went on the more Ezra had come out of his shell around the other children and by the time they reached the final activity of the day he was fully involved with the others. A couple of them had approached him during lunch and managed to convince him, with a little push from Callie and Bill, to move over to where they were sitting. 

Callie’s just putting her bag on her back, getting ready for the walk to the garage where Ryan works so she could finally go and collect her beloved car, when a voice catches her attention. 

“Hey, Callie” 

It’s Donna and she’s using that specific tone of voice that she puts on when she about to as a risky favour. Callie sighs as she scrunches her face and prepares herself for the request before turning around. 

_Here we go, Cal, brace yourself._

“What’s up?” 

“Ezra’s mum doesn’t finish work for another 45 minutes, you couldn’t, I dunno, keep an eye on him for a bit? You could take him to that little café you go to?” 

She looked from Donna to Ezra, back to Donna and then Ezra again. 

_You’ll be fine_

“Yeah, sure.” Then she realises a problem. “Wait, how will his mum know where to meet us?” 

“You’re a star! And it’s ok, I'll leave her a message letting her know where you are.” Donna explains before saying “See you next week!”. 

The trail was only on a Saturday, all of them having other things that they did during the week, the trail being a fun thing to do on a day off, despite the early start. Bill and Rose worked together in the local primary school’s canteen, hense why they did the food for the breakfast group. Clara was currently training to be a school teacher, so working with the kids at the weekend was helping prepare her for when she qualified. Donna has “a really fucking boring office job” as she liked to put it. And Amy worked in a department store, not necessarily the most exciting job but she was still trying to work out what she wanted to do. 

Ezra shuffles on his coat and follows Callie down the road, hopping and skipping over the rocks that stick out while Callie shakes her head in amusement of the fact the young boy still has so much energy despite the busy morning they’ve had. They have a light conversation, which is mainly lead by Erza, as they walk the short distance to the café. 

“It’s just over here” Callie points as they round the corner. In front of them is a small but welcoming looking café. The front is just bare bricks with two large arched windows but the door has beautiful stained glass in. Sections of yellow, blue and orange which would undoubtably catch your eye as you walk past. Above the door sits a bold sign. 

“The Attic”. 

Looking through the larger window Callie notes that it’s not very busy, thankfully it never usually is, although the front might catch your attention as you walk past, not very many people enter. It receives a steady enough flow to keep them going, but maybe that’s why it is so popular with the regulars that do go there. They're guaranteed a quiet but friendly place to go, where you can have a decent conversation with someone, or just be able to read while you have a coffee, because there’s not 20 conversations going on at once. 

Callie holds open the door for Ezra, the little bell above them ringing with the movement. As soon as he walks in Ezra can see why this is Callie’s favourite café. 

There’re posters on the walls with hand drawn pictures of colourful and wild looking creatures, a selection of mix match furniture that all look incredibly inviting and a small robot dog that sits by the counter and behind said counter stands an older brunette lady with the biggest smile on her face and the most welcoming look in her eyes. 

“Callie! It feels like forever since I last saw you, your regular?” 

“Yes please, can you make it two... with extra marshmallows” 

“So, who’s this new face?" 

“This is Ezra, he’s just joined the kids club, we’re gonna wait here for his mum” 

The kind looking woman walks out from behind the counter with a glass jar in hand that Ezra soon realises contains a variety of sweets. As she offers the jar for him to take his pick from she introduces herself. 

“It very nice to meet you, Ezra. I’m Sarah Jane.” She puts the jar on the counter once he taken his pick. “How was your first day? I’m sure Callie kept you entertained; I've never known someone tell a story like she does” 

Callie is called down to the other end of the counter by a young man with a shaved head indicating that their drinks are ready, so she leaves Ezra talking to Sarah Jane for a couple of minutes while she collects them and pays. She known Sarah Jane since she and Johnny moved here when they were 18, she basically become a parental figure to them, seeing as they don’t have any. 

“Thanks, Clyde. Sprinkles too? You always make it the best. How’s uni going?” 

“Yeah, not bad, busy what with it being my last year. Be glad when it’s all over to be honest” He presses a few buttons on the till and continues talking as Callie pays “Luke’s got an assessment next week so he’s been studying like mad, that’s why he’s not in today. Rani’s on her break, she’ll be out soon, I'll tell her to come say hi” 

Callie picks up the tray of beverages “That sucks, I was hoping Luke’d be here, Ezra’s a big comic book fan. Thanks though, these look ace. I’ll see ya later” 

She sits down at the table that Ezra had picked out once he’d finished talking to Sarah Jane, she deals out the food and drinks, moaning in delight as she takes a sip of the sugar filled hot chocolate that Clyde had made for them both before placing it on the table. Next she opens the small packet of custard creams, dipping one of them in and pulling it back out, now covered in cream and sprinkles, and shoving the whole thing in her mouth. Ezra just looks at her, jaw slightly dropped, before doing the exact same thing, except his mouth isnt as big so he only manages half the biscuit and most of the cream ends up on his face. 

Time having gone quicker than she had realised, Callie is halfway through explaining what a particular drawing on the wall is when the door behind her chimes, Ezra's face immediately breaking out into a massive smile as he gets up from his seat and runs towards, Callie can only assume, his mother. 

“Mama!” 

_Deep breath, Cal_

“Hey baby, did you have a good day?” 

“It was the best! We went on a trail and fought aliens and Rhino and then we solved a murder, except it wasn’t a real murder because Callie had drawn round me, so it was just a drawing of me on the ground. Mama, it was so fun, you should come too!” 

“I think I'm a bit too old for it, Ez.” She hears the woman laugh from behind her, Ezra having walked back over to the table so he could finish off the last of his drink. “You must be Callie” 

Callie looks up at the woman who’s now addressing her and she quickly realises she never let out that deep breath and she has no chance of letting it out now because, shit, maybe Jack had been right. She’s still dressed in her police uniform, her dark hair is tied up showing off a sharp jawline and slender neck, her skin practically glowing in the low sunlight that’s shining through the windows. There’s a tiredness in her eyes though, the kind that doesn’t come from a long day's work. 

“That’s me” Callie says as she awkwardly laughs out the breath she had been holding on to. “I’d better head off actually, gotta go pick up m’car” 

_Good thinking, Cal_

_Thanks_

“Oh,” The woman’s face drops slightly. “Well, thanks for looking after my little guy” She says as she ruffles Ezra hair “Are you sure you don’t wanna stay for a coffee or...” 

“Nah, it’s fine and it’s no problem. He’s a special kid.” She gets up and offers her seat out to Ezra’s mum. “I’ll see you next week?” 

“Yeah! And I'm gonna bring you those comics.” While they were drinking their hot chocolates Callie had confirmed to Ezra that she had in fact seen Spider-Man, she’d just only seen the first 3, so Ezra had told her that he would bring some comics for her to read. 

“Great. It was nice to meet you...” Callie pauses realising she never actually asked the woman’s name. Well, that’s a bit embarrassing. 

“Yaz- Yasmin. Yaz, to my friends.” The soft smile on her face showing that it wasn’t a problem since she hadn’t actually introduced herself anyway. 

“Nice to meet you, Yasmin. And see you soon, Ezra.” 

She says her goodbyes to Sarah Jane and Clyde, giving a small wave as she passes Ezra and Yaz again before exiting the café and walking determinedly down the road until she’s around the corner. Back hitting the wall, she lets out a shaky breath. Today hadn’t been what she expected it to be, her brain ached from having to keep the mask on for longer than she had wanted to. Now she just wanted to get home, padlock the door and hide for the rest of the week. She could deal with it when new kids joined, that was easier, but she couldn’t exactly use her stories when she comes face-to-face with an adult she’s never met before. So, she does what she did just now. Gets out the situation asap. 

She takes another breath, pushes off the wall and starts heading in the direction of the garage, the cool air against her skin is welcoming as she thinks about how much she’s dreading the week ahead of her.


End file.
